The Jazz Beat: Billy Strayhorn was Ellington’s right arm

Duke Ellington once referred to Billy Strayhorn as “my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head, and his in mine.”

Johnny Souza

Duke Ellington once referred to Billy Strayhorn as “my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head, and his in mine.”

The collaboration between Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn lasted nearly 30 years and resulted in a catalog of some of the most significant American songs of the 20th century. But while the name Duke Ellington is familiar to many people, Billy Strayhorn remains relatively unknown.

Impressed with Strayhorn’s skills as a pianist and arranger, Ellington hired him into his band as a pianist in 1939 at the age of 22. Initially, Ellington tasked Strayhorn with creating background arrangements for singers and for some of the small combos with which Ellington recorded. This allowed Ellington to concentrate on writing original material.

Even through these modest assignments, Strayhorn was able to make his mark on the band. In his spare time Strayhorn had also started to compose his own original songs that would become standards, such as “My Little Brown Book,” and the classic “Lush Life.”

By the end of the year, Strayhorn had become vital to the success of the band, arranging, composing and sitting-in at the piano. Ellington had found not only a gifted composer and arranger, but also a collaborator that could complement and expand his own creativity.

Strayhorn’s arrangements and compositions had an immediate impact on the Ellington band. Ellington always wrote while keeping in mind the personalities and sound of his soloists such as Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Ben Webster, Ray Nance, Bubber Miley and Jimmy Blanton. Strayhorn brought a more classically schooled approach to the Ellington band, the combined approach of both men giving the band the unique “Ellington sound.”

In both his arranging and composing styles, Strayhorn thoroughly absorbed Ellington’s approach to composition to the point that he was able to build on it. Most listeners still can’t tell the difference between the writing of either man.

However, long-standing Ellington musicians and Strayhorn biographer David Hajdu have pointed out that Strayhorn wrote with even greater sensuality and sensitivity, and structured a composition more organically than Duke who came out of the ragtime and stride tradition.

Some of Strayhorn’s most famous compositions are “Chelsea Bridge,” “Lush Life,” “Johnny Come Lately,” “Take the A Train,” “Lotus Blossom,” “Rain Check,” “Star Crossed Lovers,” “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing” and “Satin Doll.” A lot of people familiar with these songs may incorrectly credit them to Ellington.

Strayhorn’s music was regularly being performed by Ellington’s band, but through the 1940s he became increasingly upset that Ellington was receiving most of the credit. Duke Ellington did take credit for a good deal of Strayhorn’s work, and he acknowledged this fact on numerous occasions.

Ellington would often make jokes onstage. “Strayhorn does a lot of the work but I get to take the bows!” he said.

“As much as he wanted to use that talent,” says composer and scholar Gunther Schuller of Ellington, “I think he wanted to preserve his stature, his status, and not have that even in his own mind get mixed up with Strayhorn’s. To put it in another way, he considered Strayhorn to be not quite at the level that he was.”

During the late '40s and early '50s, Strayhorn moved on from the Ellington band to concentrate on some of his own musical projects. By the mid-'50s, Strayhorn had returned to Ellington but with a new understanding: Strayhorn would be given full credit for his work.

Their reconciliation kicked off a prolific and very successful era in the history of the Ellington-Strayhorn collaboration. The Ellington band’s famous appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956, brought them additional fame and expanded audiences.

In addition to their worldwide touring schedule during the '50s and '60s, Ellington and Strayhorn also wrote film scores including those for "Anatomy of a Murder" and "Paris Blues."

Inspired by a 1963 State Department tour of the Middle East and a subsequent visit to Japan, "The Far East Suite," recorded in 1966, was the final collaboration between Ellington and Strayhorn. The album ranks among their finest work and is highlighted by the classic “Isfahan,” “Ad Lib on Nippon” and the funky, blues tune “Blue Pepper.”

Strayhorn wrote his final songs while dying from cancer of the esophagus. He delivered his last piece, “Blue Cloud” (later renamed “Blood Count”), to Ellington while in the hospital. Ellington included this song on the album "And His Mother Called Him Bill," which he recorded with his band as a tribute to Strayhorn a few months after Billy’s death in 1967.

Ellington would continue to compose songs and tour with his band until his own death in 1974, but Strayhorn’s passing had taken from him his primary musical collaborator.

For more information on Billy Strayhorn visit www.billystrayhorn.com. For further reading seek out "Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn" by David Hajdu and "Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn," by Walter van de Leur. Suggested recordings include "Lush Life: The Billy Strayhorn Songbook" (Verve) and "Far East Suite Special Mix by Duke Ellington" (RCA).

Johnny Souza is working jazz musician and alumnus of Berklee College of Music. He was born, raised and still lives in Plymouth, Mass. Find out more about Johnny at www.johnnysouza.com. Also, feel free to submit your feedback or questions to Johnny at thejazzbeat@johnnysouza.com.